Hell's Gift (22 page)

His body collapsed the rest of the way to the dying pre-winter grass and he laid there, softly moaning, seemingly harmless and looking just as beautiful as when she’d seen him last.

She had the sudden impulse to apologize, say she was sorry and attempt to comfort him, then she reminded herself of what he was and what he had been attempting to do to her. She turned from him and took another step.

“Wait…please, wait. I mean you no harm. I swear it.”

Eyes wide, Josselyn turned on him once more. “You mean me no harm? But you just—”

“Covered your mouth to keep you from screaming.”

She shook her head as she looked down at him. He still hadn’t moved. “No, you—”

“Pressed your body up against the house and thought about ripping your clothes off? Yeah.” He moved to sit up, then groaned again in obvious discomfort. He made it back to his knees and then just sat back on his heels to rest. “I admit that I may have been overstepping boundaries, but there was no real harm done, right?”

Josselyn crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him through narrowed eyes. “Why are you here?”

After a quick shrug of the shoulders, he smiled that perfect smile that had her flustered the last time they’d met. “Would you rather I were Murry?”

“I’d rather you all go away and leave Kendra and her family alone!” Josselyn shouted, her voice wavering a little at the end.

“I’ve already told you, skirt, I’m not here for Kendra or anyone else with mortal blood.”

Josselyn’s expression sobered, and as much as she tried to hide it, she knew he could see the curiosity flare in her eyes as they dilated. “So, what do you want?”

His eyebrows came up and his smile was full of amusement. “What do I want? Now, there’s a loaded question.” The demon stood and took a step toward her, then chuckled lightly when she tensed. “You can relax, you know. If I wanted to hurt you, or those two inexperienced angels in the house, I would have done that already.”

Ignoring the evil nipping at her skin, Josselyn looked him in the eyes. “How do you know they are angels?”

He leaned in and made an obvious gesture to sniff of her. “The smell is…heavenly.”

She took a step back, obviously uncomfortable with his closeness, and the Cheshire cat grin she found she was beginning to enjoy looking at. “I just bet it is. Tell me why you are here.”

“I was hoping you could give me some answers. You see, if you help me—”

“I don’t make deals with the devil.”

The short burst of laughter from him made her jump, and he shook his head. “It seems your friend doesn’t have a problem doing that.”

She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it with a clap.
Man, he was good,
she thought. She’d almost told him that she would never do something as stupid as Rhyan had done, but then he would know they had been in touch with him somehow.
Maybe she could get answers from him as well. It wasn’t like she had to tell him something she didn’t want to.
“You’ve met Rhyan?”

“No, but I was present in the meeting with Lucifer after he met the bloke with balls made of steel. I don’t think he’ll be able to get out of one syde, much less seven, but I admire him for fighting for what he wants. I guess I would do the same if ever I had someone worth fighting for.”

“So, what would I benefit from telling you anything, and what could I possibly tell you that you don’t already know? Rhyan is there, not here. You know more than we do.”

“Murry is busy, and I can make sure he stays that way—at least, until you stop giving me what I need.”

He’d smiled at the end, leaving her wondering if answers were all he desired. She pulled herself together just before embarrassment flushed through her.

“My soul is not up for grabs,” she stated firmly.

“‘Tis not your soul I crave from you—”

“My body is not, either!”

He snickered lightly. “We shall see,” he whispered to himself, then sobered and changed the subject before she had a chance to verbally thrash him again. “My first question, how is it that you can see me? I am well masked, even my aura is covered. I was sure nothing short of Lucifer could detect me.”

“Demons aren’t the only ones with tricks up their sleeves. We are capable of taking care of ourselves.”

“I’ve been around your kind before and have never been detected.”

“We are all different. I’d imagine not all demons possess the ability to make others physically want them against their will.”

The corner of his lip twitched and he nodded in agreement. “It was Hell’s gift to me when I was dubbed a prince. Can you guess which syde I oversee?”

Recognition flickered in her eyes, but she glanced away, clearing her throat in the process. She’d heard Malcolm mention to Rhyan which prince was over the Syde of Lust. He had to be Thoros.
Of course,
she thought,
there would be no other explanation for my attraction to the demon.

She smiled. “Your charm is lacking, so I can only assume you oversee the Syde of Sloth.” He lost his smile and she continued, “No, wait—it must be Envy, because you obviously have that trait. I mean, why else would you keep Murry from coming here?” His brow crinkled in confusion and she almost laughed. “Then there is Greed—”

Her words were cut off as the demon took hold of her, and before she could catch her next breath her back was slammed up against the face of the house. An involuntary moan escaped her throat as he thrust his pelvis against hers. Obvious sexual hunger radiated from his body and she didn’t mistake the rock hard bulge pressed between her legs for anything except what it was. And, damn him, she wanted it in her. She had to get away from this witchery before he fogged her mind so much with his ability that she did the unthinkable. She could not have sex with a demon.

Fingers fisting in her blond locks, he tugged her head back to reveal her neck to the light of the moon.

The door was jerked open and two male angels ran onto the porch. They stopped suddenly and stared wide-eyed at Josselyn. Her back was to the house, eyes dazed, one leg lifted slightly and her hair was a tousled mess.

“Josselyn, what happened?”

Thoros snickered lightly into her ear. “They do not need to know I am here.” He removed his hand from her thigh, letting her foot lower its way back to the porch beside the other, but he rotated his hips into hers, smiling slightly and biting his lower lip as desire filled her eyes once again. “Tell them you are fine. I’d hate for this night to go in any other direction than where it’s headed now.”

Josselyn blinked a few times and cleared her throat. “Yeah, uh…everything is fine.” She laughed nervously. “I just freaked myself out a little, thought I saw something. Go back in the house with Kendra and her family. I’ll be in as soon as I finish the perimeter check.”

“Are you—”

“I’m fine,” she insisted. “Just go.”

The other male angels were eyeing her suspiciously and were just about to object again when her eyes met their troubled stares.

“I said there is nothing out here and I am fine. I can take care of myself.”

One of the angels nodded and motioned for the other male to go inside, then he followed suit and closed the door behind him.

Thoros backed away and casually leaned up against a porch post.

Josselyn’s hands found her knees and the rush of oxygen in through her nostrils and out of her mouth was bringing on a whole new meaning to hyperventilating.

“You gonna make it or do I need to give you mouth to mouth? I’ve never heard of an angel passing out before, but I think I may get to witness it tonight.”

His words calmed her enough to slow her breathing, and she lifted her head to glare at him through her lashes. “And I’ve never heard of an angel being able to lie, either. What have you done to me? Stop messing with my mind, Thoros.”

He pushed himself away from the post and stood upright. “So, you do know who I am.”

“Are you kidding me? I just lied, more than once, to two angels and you think the topic of the day should still be all about you? Just how narcissistic are you?”

“No, actually I think the topic of the day should be about what was happening before we were so rudely interrupted. Now, that’s something to talk about.”

“You are absolutely ridiculous.”

“Why? Because I was enjoying myself and noticed that you were, too. I swear there is nothing hotter than watching a woman as she loses herself in a moment of pure, undiluted lust.”

Her sharp inhale and wide eyes had Thoros grinning.

“Oh—oh no,” he said, “don’t tell me you thought I was mind-fucking you again, because I wasn’t, skirt. That was all you, sweetness.” He puckered his lips and kissed the air in front of her face.

She shook her head, her vision unfocused as she stared down at the porch floor, and then his boots. She couldn’t accept that. He had to be lying to her, she thought. There was no possible way that she’d want him without her mind being tampered with. “I have to get out of here. Something is terribly wrong.”

“You’re not going anywhere. I still need answers.”

“Screw your answers!”

Thoros shrugged and turned to step off the porch. “Maybe I’ll watch over Murry’s syde for a while so he can have his reunion with Kendra—”

“Wait—” Josselyn growled under her breath. “What do you want to know? I’ll, um…I’ll answer what I can.”

“I thought you’d see things my way.” When she only crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow, he continued. “Why is Rhyan in Hell?”

She glanced away, not knowing how much she should say.
What if he uses the information against me?

“Look, I don’t like Murry, and if I can find evidence to get him kicked out of his position, then you won’t have to worry about him showing up here and harming your charge. Honestly, if you can trust me enough so we can work together, we may both end up getting what we want. Then you can flutter back up to Heaven and the human can carry on with her life in peace and harmony.”

Josselyn didn’t know what to believe, but she could tell there was honesty in his voice, or she prayed that was what it was. Malcolm wasn’t going to like her working with a demon, she thought. She wasn’t sure that it was such a great idea, either, but what choice did she have? She knew she couldn’t defeat Murry on her own.

Her brow furrowed. “Kendra used to be Rhyan’s charge. He passed the link to me right before he fell to Hell.”

“So, he’s really
in
Hell? He is a fallen angel?”

“Sort of—he still has his soul. He was in love with Kendra her whole life, and when he couldn’t have her he became really dispirited. The guardians felt that if he met his soulmate again, it would pull him out of his depression. So they let him fall, because his soulmate is in Hell. He can return to Heaven if she comes with him.”

“Abigail…” he whispered, and let the rest of that thought go unsaid. “You said he was in love with his charge.” Josselyn nodded and he went back to thinking out loud. “If something happened to the human, it might possibly distract him or throw him back into a bout of depression.”

“Maybe Murry wants to use her as bait, so Rhyan will do what he wants him to do. He might try to take the baby. It would absolutely kill Rhyan if anything happened to them. He already feels guilty that he let her down. And now, since Lucifer has made the deal with him to go through the sydes, Murry might do just about anything to keep that from happening, right? I mean, Lucifer wants the royalty to make sure Rhyan gives up, and you and Murry are the only two that know Kendra is Rhyan’s weakness—”

The instant she realized she’d said too much her hand flew up to her mouth.

He looked up at her in confusion. His eyes narrowed as he scrambled to process everything she’d said. “How do you know so much about what’s going on? I’m positive I didn’t reveal that much information to you.”

Josselyn took a step backward, toward the front door of the Chamberlain home. “You have your answers, Thoros. I’d appreciate it if you would hold up your end of the bargain and keep Murry away.”

She didn’t wait for his response. She let herself into the house, then shut and locked the door behind her.

Chapter 28

Rhyan

I pulled the hood down, further concealing my face and neck from the flesh-eating flakes. I had a strong feeling that Lucifer or some other sadist was watching me, because the winds had only grown stronger since I’d left Pogo under the bridge.

I had no idea where I was headed or what the plan would be once I arrived there. Faith had me pushing forward in the hope a clue or something would land in my path for me to stumble upon.

Maybe Lucifer would grow bored of watching me circle the Syde of Gluttony and give me something. The thought made me suddenly nervous, because the fallen angel was no friend of mine. I was positive any hint he would give me would only hinder, instead of help, my search of a way to get out of each syde.

I eerily felt the pressure of eyes on me, and looked to an open window of a small hut. There was a frail looking young woman standing just beyond the shadows. Her eyes were sunk far back in the sockets of her skull and it appeared that she was without arms. She continued to glare, only moving her eyes to follow me as I walked past.

I didn’t even want to try to wrap my mind around what she had done in her life to deserve this afterlife and the condition her body was in. Worrying about the sins others had committed wasn’t going to help me any; I had to keep moving forward.

The fumes from the acid-ash severely burned my throat, forcing me to cough, but that seemed to only encourage the painful sensation to increase. If I hadn’t already known better, I would’ve sworn someone had stuck a blowtorch down my throat and turned the flame on high. My esophagus felt scorched, completely incinerated, and I would have done just about anything for a glass of something cool to extinguish the fire.

A wooden sign, swinging outside of a larger than average building for the area I was walking through, caught my attention. There were three letters carved on it in bold black:
B A R
.